In the past the word culture referred to a society’s accumulated knowledge and its time-tested and proven body of values and principles which each generation must pass on to the next if the ongoing continuity and success of the community was to be assured.  But much like paper currency, words lose...

The most common strategy that wealthy and healthy taxpayers use to fund against unavoidable anticipated estate tax liability is to purchase life insurance in an irrevocable trust; funding the trust with gifts so the trustee can pay the premiums. Transfers to the trust can be protected from gift taxation...

The story of the prodigal son alerts us to the risks involved in completely turning assets over to our children without some restraints on their control of the property, lest they waste their substance on riotous living. Taxpayers are often encouraged to do this by consolidating assets under the umbrella...

The talk of the town regarding possible changes to the transfer tax laws under a new Congress and administration has been what might happen to the estate and gift tax lifetime exemption.  Currently every taxpayer can shelter (either through lifetime giving or at death) up to $11,700,000 of their taxable...

Back in the old days when income tax rates were as high as 91% (Holy Mama!) income-shifting was the flavor-of-the-month as high-net-worth taxpayers took steps to get income attributed to persons or entities in lower brackets.  A popular depository was a trust which, back then, was taxed at much lower...

Little Harold ran into the kitchen where his Mother was preparing dinner and said, “Hey Mom!  You know that antique vase on the stand in the front hall that has been handed down from generation to generation?”  When she looked up he reported, “Well my generation just dropped it!” The transfer...

It was an eye-opener the first time I walked into the office of a civil engineer back in the 1970s and saw, spread across an entire wall, the flowchart mapping out the relationship and time sequence of all that was involved in getting an eight-story building there in the Burg from ground-breaking to grand-opening. The...

Few American publishers have had or will ever approach the influence of Henry Luce in his heyday. Through the middle half of the 20th century, Luce founded and successfully grew a family of magazines whose content was a major factor in shaping the thought and activity of American society. He named...

The greatest distinction of criminal Alphonse “Scarface” Capone is that he is, still, the best-known person ever to appear on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.”  But what is not as well-known is the reason why he was eventually imprisoned in 1933.  “Public-enemy No. 1” was jailed for tax evasion. ...

There's the old story about the hungry chicken and the hungry pig who agreed to both contribute to a mutual breakfast.  The chicken suggested they have ham and eggs, to which the pig replied, “That’s a contribution for you, but it’s total commitment for me!” When proposing life insurance we would...